The Gray Wolf Throne (50 page)

T H e G r Ay wo L F T H ro n e

thought as she left the healing halls. is there anything that doesn’t need attention? There are not enough hours in the day.

raisa was walking back to the palace through the gardens, trailing her usual wake of guards, when someone stepped out of the shadows next to the path. raisa took a step back, hearing swords whispering free all around her.

it was Micah Bayar.

“Micah. it’s not a good idea to surprise me like that,” raisa said. She fingered her dagger, reflexively glancing down to make sure the Gray wolf ring was in place on her finger. “what do you want?”

“i would like to speak with you, raisa, that’s all,” Micah said, holding his hands out at his sides to show they were empty. He ran his eyes over her escorts bristling with weapons. “in private.”

“That’s not going to be possible,” raisa said. “i’m sure you understand.”

“please, hear me out,” he said, “and consider what i say carefully.” in a louder voice he said, “i’m going to remove my amulet now, so please don’t run me through.” Slowly, his eyes on the Gray wolves, he lifted his amulet over his head and set it down on a stone bench in the garden. Then he sat at the other end of the bench and placed his hand on the stone next to him. “Sit with me. please. your guard can remain in sight, but far enough away that we won’t be overheard. if i try anything, they can lope over and lop off my head.”

raisa hesitated, biting her lip. “How do i know you don’t have another amulet hidden on your person?” she said.

Micah smiled faintly. “Have mercy, your Highness,” he said.

“i could strip, but it is a chilly evening. Besides, you seem to have 436

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an immunity to any magic i can conjure.” He raised an eyebrow.

raisa debated telling him that her guard could hear whatever he wanted to tell her. And yet she found she wanted to hear what Micah had to say—something he wouldn’t say in front of her guard. She had the feeling she would learn something useful.

raisa wondered what Amon and Han would think of this idea.

Then decided she didn’t want to fol ow that thought any further.

“All right,” she said. Turning to her guard, she said, “Stay here, and stay alert.”

raisa walked over and sat down on the bench next to Micah, leaving a little distance between them. “what is it?” Micah studied her for a long moment. “i am disarmed, your Highness. i am totally without my usual weapons.”

“you are never without weapons,” raisa said.

He tilted his head toward the guards. “what i mean, is, i’m not used to meeting beautiful girls under so many pairs of eyes.” raisa half rose. “is that what you think this is? if so, then—”

“please. Sit.” Micah waved her back down. “i apologize. i never seem to know what to say to you anymore.”

“you could start by telling me the truth.” raisa drew her jacket more closely about her shoulders. “i’ve grown up. i no longer respond to flattery.”

“i spoke the truth,” he said. “But i suspect you are looking for a different kind.” He looked down at his hands. “i want to start over,” he said. “i want to ask permission to court you.” raisa just stared at him wordlessly. That was the last thing she’d expected him to say. “After everything that’s happened between us, now you expect me to accept you as a suitor?” she said finally.

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“i’m tired of pushing myself on you,” he went on. “i’m not used to it, and it is humiliating.”

“There are lots of girls at court. why do you feel the need to push yourself on me?” raisa asked. “Are you under pressure from your father?”

Micah gazed at her for a long moment, then shrugged. “yes,” he said. “if you want the truth. But that’s not why i’m here. i’m here for myself.”

There was a smudge of dirt on raisa’s breeches, on the inside of her thigh. She licked her thumb and rubbed at it, then looked up to find Micah’s eyes on her. She brought her knees together and dropped her hands in her lap.

“what is it you hope to gain by courting me?” raisa asked.

Micah raised his dark brows. “what is the usual objective of courtship, raisa?”

“There are any number of possibilities, as you well know,” raisa said irritably. “in our case, we cannot marry, and so—”

“i would beg you to keep an open mind on that,” Micah said.

“you are the queen now, or soon will be. For a thousand years we have been imprisoned by the past. you have the power to make changes. The future is in your hands, if you will only seize it.” raisa tilted her head. “So, having failed at forcing me into a marriage, you hope to take me by persuasion this time?”

“i like to think,” he said, “that had i tried that first, i might have succeeded.”

“i’m not the only person you have to persuade,” raisa said. “Do you think you could win over my father? or elena Demonai?” She rolled her eyes, picturing that interview.

“you are the first person i need to win,” Micah said. “i’ll 438

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worry about them when you say yes.”

“well, i have to worry about them now,” raisa snapped.

“They are not the only people you need to worry about.” Micah closed his eyes, took a deep breath. “Don’t you realize the danger you’re in?” he said, eyes still closed.

“Maybe not. is there something you want to tell me?” raisa said, putting her hand on his arm. “who killed my mother, Micah? who is trying to kill me?”

Micah leaned in close, speaking into her ear so his breath stirred her hair and warmed her cheek. “i don’t know who killed the queen,” he said. “And if i knew for sure who was trying to kill you, i would handle it myself.”

Against all reason, raisa believed him.

“well, then.” raisa shifted away from him. “Come back when you have those answers.”

Micah hissed out an irritated breath. “i can’t protect you if you won’t let me near you.”

“Based on your history, why should i feel safer with you?” raisa muttered.

“i’m just saying it would be safer if you were a little less out-spoken. if you seemed to go along with things a little more. if it seemed like there was a chance that you might . . . accept me. if you threw the gifted a bone.”

“Like what?” raisa demanded. “Crowning you king?” Micah raised his hands, palms out. “Take this whole business of naming a street thief to the wizard Council. The council is enraged. They take it as a lack of respect. They think you’re tweaking them on purpose.”

“is that what this is all about?” raisa narrowed her eyes. “you 439

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Bayars wanted me to appoint Fiona instead?”

“Fiona has her faults, but she would be a far better choice than Alister,” Micah said. “Trust me, you won’t rest easy with him looking out for your interests. He is in this for his own gain.” He paused. “you must know that there are all kinds of sordid rumors flying around about you and that thief. The last thing i heard was that you’d named him to the peerage and handed him a holding on the Firehole river.”

raisa’s cheeks burned. “what do you think, Micah? Are you listening to the rumors?”

Micah dismissed that possibility with a flick of his hand. “i know better than that. i can’t imagine you would have any interest in a street thug. But none of this helps. He’s a wizard. if the copperheads believe you’re bedding Alister, he’ll end up in some ravine with a Demonai arrow through his eye. if you’re going to be linked to a wizard, at least let it be someone who’d have the support of the council. Alister has no support from anyone.” He paused, eying her as if debating asking the question. “why is he here, raisa? what do you see in him? why does he have access to you and i do not?”

Micah reached for raisa’s hand, then jerked his hand back as if recalling that his touch might not be welcome. He flexed his hand, rubbing his fingertips against his palm, releasing tension.

“you pardoned him for trying to kill my father,” Micah went on. “Have you asked yourself who’s murdering wizards in the city now? need i remind you that the killings commenced about the time he returned to the Fells? And that the bodies have been left in his old neighborhood?”

raisa’s stomach flipped unpleasantly. “it is easy to fling 440

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accusations,” she said. “That’s all i’ve heard for weeks. i’ll tell you what i told the Demonai when they accused your family of murdering my mother. Bring me some evidence and i will act.”

“we are watching him,” Micah said. “Sooner or later, he is going to make a mistake.”

They sat in stony silence for a long moment.

Han was right, raisa thought. if people come to believe that there is anything serious between us, it will be his death and maybe mine.

Make them think you hate me
, he’d said. She wasn’t sure she could pull that off. But maybe she could introduce some doubt.

“Look,” she said. “Alister won’t be a problem if you let me handle this my own way. i’m juggling a lot of competing interests right now. putting him on council was part of a larger bargain—the least of evils. it was the price i had to pay for a bit of peace.”

“i knew it!” Micah said, pounding his fist into his palm.

“who’s backing him? who’s he working for? Abelard?” raisa shook her head. “i’m not going to discuss this any further. i’ve said too much already. now, if there’s nothing else . . . ?” She made as if to rise.

Micah held up his hand to stay her. “i’ve already admitted that i wish you had named Fiona to the council instead,” he said.

“But that is
not
what this is all about. That is not why we are holding this conversation. i’m just trying to give you some helpful advice. i don’t want anything to happen to you. i don’t want that on my conscience.” His face was parchment pale, his black eyes bright and hard as obsidian.

raisa leaned forward. “Micah, if you know of some threat to 441

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the Gray wolf line, it is your duty to tell me. or prevent it. or bring it to the Queen’s Guard.”

Micah shook his head, released a sigh, and stood, lips tight, his face hard and bleak. “you really don’t understand, do you?” he said in a low, bitter voice. “That’s exactly what i’m trying to do—keep you alive. i’ve risked everything for you—my family and my future. All you need to do is show a bit of . . . flexibility.

But, no. you’ll get yourself killed, and there is nothing i can do about it.”

raisa shivered, her jacket no longer sufficient to keep her warm. There had been—what—four or five attempts on her life since Lord Bayar’s assassins came to oden’s Ford? How long before somebody succeeded?

Beyond Micah, in the shadowy garden, gray shapes milled and circled, their eyes catching the torchlight, reflecting it back like temple candles.

A turning point. A critical choice. But what is the right one?

Micah might be here on his father’s orders. He might have come to persuade her to reverse her decision and name Fiona to the council. He might be trying to frighten her into doing the bidding of the wizard Council. He might hope to fool her into receiving him as a suitor.

All of those things might be true, but Micah had saved her life more than once. For whatever reason, he seemed to have an interest in keeping her alive.

She’d been impatient, and lost her temper with the Queen’s Council. it might feel good to antagonize Lord Bayar, but she could pay a high price. She needed to better cement her position before she made any more enemies.

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She considered the cost of playing the game. She wouldn’t swap Fiona for Han Alister on the wizard Council. She didn’t want three Bayars on the council, and she’d given her word to Han.

“Thank you for your time, your Highness,” Micah said, interrupting her mental debate. “Good evening.” He turned to leave.

“wait,” raisa said, pushing to her feet.

He half turned and stood waiting.

There was one thing she could do—a calculated decision in a situation that demanded a cold heart and a clear head. Something that might stay any action against her long enough for her to build her own defenses.

“you have persuaded me, Micah,” raisa said. “To this degree—if you are truly worried about my safety, you may tell your family that i have agreed to allow you to court me—with discretion. That i am guardedly receptive to your overtures. i will do my best not to contradict that story in public. But i’m not making any promises beyond that.”

He inclined his head, his face expressionless.

“we cannot wave it like a bloody flag in front of the Spirit clans. And given your history, i’m sure you understand why i cannot risk being alone with you.”

“i accept those terms,” Micah said. “But i’m giving you fair warning—i will do my best to change your mind.”

“i’m giving
you
fair warning—sooner or later, you’re going to have to choose between me and your father. whatever happens between us, you’ll have to decide where your ultimate loyalty lies.”

“i have already decided, your Highness.” Micah bowed, then 443

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turned and walked away, losing himself in the shadows.

raisa stood, looking after him, wondering if she’d made the right move. would she be able to convince Lord Bayar that she’d accepted Micah as a suitor, hide that from the clans, and still keep him at a distance?

would she be strong enough to keep him at a distance?

Back in the palace, raisa found Han Alister waiting at the door to her room, chatting with the bluejackets stationed there.

Cat Tyburn was with him, but raisa wouldn’t have recognized her if Cat hadn’t thrown back her head and laughed her throaty laugh just as raisa arrived.